


interstellar (when it's me and you)

by thegoodlannister



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxiety Disorder, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Soft Kylux, Submissive Kylo Ren, and hux is a law student, it's a match made in heaven, kylo works at game stop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-11 01:49:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7870867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegoodlannister/pseuds/thegoodlannister
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>kylo's trying, but he's having a hard day.  somehow, hux knows just what to do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	interstellar (when it's me and you)

**Author's Note:**

> written for an anonymous friend on tumblr who needed some cheering up. I liked this one more than I expected. :)

Kylo Ren has been working at GameStop for three months - it's the longest stretch he's had at a job in the past four years, and it makes him feel really good about himself.  Useful.  Functional.  Like he's really a part of the world, finally, the way he should be at 24.  Usually he's done something to mess it up by now, said something he shouldn't to his boss or overslept too often or, that one time, told a customer to fuck off - and the fact that he’d apologized immediately afterward hadn’t mattered.

But he's been making it work at GameStop - he really has, because he _likes_ video games and he likes helping people with them, especially the kids.  He's good at this, and Hux looks a little proud of him every morning when he drops Kylo off at work before driving to campus, where he spends the day studying for his law degree while Kylo unpacks boxes and alphabetizes used PlayStation discs.

(Hux never judges him for that, though.  Asks Kylo about his day when they get home and even listens intently, like it _matters_ , and Kylo's still getting used to that.  To being wanted, even though he's a disappointment.  Even though he couldn't even make it through his sophomore year of undergrad before having a breakdown and destroying his chemistry lab.)

Which is why this is such a disaster - why he's sitting outside on the curb of the little strip mall where he works, hiccuping as he wipes his streaming eyes and nose on his shirtsleeve.  He's glad his sweatshirt is black, so you can't see where his eyeliner is smearing, though he's sure it's all over his face by now.  He knows how he must look, knows he shouldn't be doing this right outside of his workplace, but when he gets like this, he can't _stop_ , and he's just glad he hasn't actually broken anything yet.

(Other than his skin where he's torn apart his cuticle, and it's bleeding enough that there's no way he's going to be able to hide that from Hux, who is going to lose his shit when he sees.  Kylo's truly fucked in that department.)

Logically, he knows it isn't that big of a deal - he's been asked to leave for the day because they're _slow_ , not because of anything he did wrong.  But he can't stop the whirring of his mind, the incessant noise that says if they're slow, they're not going to need him anymore.  Not today, not _any_ day.  He's going to be let go and fuck, maybe it _is_ his fault.  Maybe he's the reason customers aren't coming in, maybe they've heard that Senator Organa's crazy son works here and they're avoiding the place and it's going to close, all because they were stupid enough to hire him and -

Kylo's phone buzzes in his pocket, and he fumbles to take it out, chipped black nail varnish scrabbling at the screen as he enters his security code.  

**how's your day going, baby?**

_Hux_.  The rush of affection at the words has his eyes spilling over again, and Kylo sniffles loudly, debates lying and telling Hux he's good and then... doing what exactly?  Hanging around the parking lot until Hux's last class ends that evening?  That's another five hours away, and if Kylo were a better boyfriend, that's what he would do.  Would tell him it's a busy day and that he'll see him that night when Hux picks him up for dinner.  Would suggest pizza picked up from their favorite spot.

But he's not a better boyfriend.  He's needy and sad and honestly, right now, he's not super confident in what he'll do if he's left out here alone until sunset.  He flexes his fingers, stiff and frozen in his fingerless gloves, before responding.

**not good.  it's slow.  they let me go for the day.  it's cold out here.  I want pizza.**

He knows Hux knows him well enough to read between the lines, that he'll understand what this has done to Kylo, that his clipped sentences mean he's struggling to hold himself together, and once again, Hux doesn't let him down.  Not even thirty seconds have passed before Hux's response comes through, quick enough that he must have been holding his phone in his hand, waiting to hear from Kylo.

**you're outside?  don't be an idiot.  it's freezing out there.  did you bring your scarf this morning?**

Kylo doesn't even have time to start typing a reply before his phone is buzzing again.

**no, scratch that.  forget the scarf.  go back inside and wait there.  I'm coming to get you.**

**you have another class.**   Kylo can't bring himself to say no, he wants this so badly, but he knows that Hux's professors are unforgiving.  He'd missed class with a cold a few weeks before, and Kylo thought they'd never let him hear the end of it.

Again, his phone buzzes so quickly he has to wonder if it's Hux's smaller fingers that allow him to text like that.   **I have a boyfriend likely to freeze to death sitting outside a strip mall.  which do you think is more important right now?**

The words make Kylo laugh, thick and watery, and he clutches the phone to his chest, thanking god and fate and whoever else that Hux exists, and that he's Kylo's boyfriend.  That he wants him, despite everything.   **I love you** , he types, meaning it more now than perhaps he ever has.

**I love you too, kylo,** Hux’s text reads, and he know it’s so short only because he's driving - and texting while driving is one of those things that Hux is a complete stickler about - even at red lights.

When Hux picks him up 15 minutes later, he starts crying again, though he's not sure why, and Hux takes his face between his hands, pressing warm, strong fingers against cheeks gone ruddy with cold.  His scarf is a dusty pink and he's wearing a familiar grey peacoat and warm air blows from the vents of his BMW when he opens the door to let Kylo in - and when Kylo falls asleep on the way home, lulled there by warmth and the smooth motions of Hux’s driving, Hux still remembers to order all his favorite toppings on their pizza.

(And Kylo loves him, and Hux loves him back.)

 

\---

 

_End._


End file.
